Editing Wisdom Tree

{{Short description|Video game company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{about|the video game company|the film|The Wisdom Tree|the fund sponsor|WisdomTree Investments}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Wisdom Tree, Inc.
| logo = Wisdom Tree logo.png
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
| founded = {{Start date and age|1990}}
| founder = Dan Lawton
| hq_location_city =
| hq_location_country = U.S.
| key_people = Brenda Huff
}}
'''Wisdom Tree, Inc.''' is an American developer of [[Christian video game]]s. It was an offshoot of [[Color Dreams]], one of the first companies to work around [[Nintendo]]'s [[10NES]] lockout chip technology for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]]. Color Dreams formed the Wisdom Tree subsidiary in 1990 in an effort to circumvent Nintendo's restrictions against publishers of unlicensed video games for the NES by selling their games at Christian book stores which was not subject to pressure by Nintendo.

==History==
Color Dreams was based in [[Brea, California]], and was started by Daniel Lawton, a self-educated computer programmer and vocal opponent of [[Nintendo]]'s licensing policy.<ref name=EGM100>{{cite magazine |title=What Ever Happened to: Color Dreams |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=101 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |date=December 1997|page=34}}</ref> Founded in 1988, Color Dreams was one of the largest producers of unlicensed games for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]], but, due to pressure from Nintendo, it faced many difficulties getting retailers to stock its games.<ref name=WTabout>{{cite web |url=http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/odd/scans/wisdomtree.html|title=About Color Dreams/Wisdom Tree|work=AtariHQ|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref><ref name=Bogost2007>{{cite book |last=Bogost|first=Ian|title=Persuasive games: the expressive power of videogames |url=https://archive.org/details/persuasivegamese00bogo |url-access=registration |access-date=July 2, 2017|date=July 1, 2007|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=9780262026147 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/persuasivegamese00bogo/page/287 287]–288}}</ref> Although Color Dreams violated no laws in opting out of the Nintendo licensing system with its workaround of Nintendo's [[10NES]] lockout chip,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-evangelical-twins-who-want-to-make-a-bible-video-game-that-doesnt-suck/|title=These Evangelical Twins Want to Make a Bible Video Game That Doesn't Suck|last=Maiberg|first=Emanuel|date=October 9, 2014|work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref> Nintendo was displeased that it was receiving no revenues from Color Dreams games, and wanted to prevent other companies from following. Nintendo threatened to cease selling games to retailers that sold unlicensed NES games.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infiniteneslives.com/aux15.php|title=Sunday Funday: The Ride|work=Infinite NES Lives|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref>

Because retailers could not afford to stop doing business with Nintendo, unlicensed companies were at a disadvantage. Color Dreams had great difficulty accessing the retail market, and worked outside of mainstream NES distribution channels. Also, many of its games were reported to have problems getting to run properly, occasionally even requiring instructions on the cartridge, and were criticized for their lack of quality and gameplay.<ref name=WTabout/><ref name=Bogost2007/> The problems with running Color Dreams games stemmed from physical changes in later models of the NES; long-time Color Dreams employee Vance Kozik (best known as the programmer of ''[[Menace Beach]]'') recalled having customers who called Color Dreams and read off the [[serial number]] of their NES unit so that they could send them a compatible cartridge.<ref name=EGM100/> The quality issues with the games were in part due to the [[reverse engineering]] required to develop unlicensed NES games, which effectively forced the company's programmers to work within stricter technical limitations than licensed NES developers had, such as fewer [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]] displayed on-screen.<ref name=EGM100/>

In 1990, Color Dreams began to consider producing games with [[bible|biblical]] themes. At the time, there were few religious video games for console systems. Officials at Color Dreams saw a market for them and that many stores that would be most interested in retailing Christian games. Christian bookstores were likely not to sell video games at all, and thus not vulnerable to pressure from Nintendo.<ref name=Halter>{{cite web|url=http://www.1up.com/features/play-to-pray|title=Play to Pray from 1UP.com |last=Halter|first=Ed|date=December 14, 2006|work=[[1UP.com]]|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref><ref name=Bogost2007/> Christian bookstores sold much more than books, like religious [[Film|movies]], [[Contemporary Christian music]], and other goods, but not video games. To convince these stores to sell religious games, Color Dreams formed Wisdom Tree and promoted this new genre of video games.<ref name=Bogost2007/> Wisdom Tree sent Christian bookstores 3-foot ''[[Bible Adventures]]'' displays, and [[VHS]] cassettes showing gameplay. These promotional videos made the case to Christian bookstores using lines like: "This game promotes Bible literacy and teaches children about the Bible while they play a 'fun and exciting' ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' style video game." Ultimately, these efforts proved successful, and Color Dreams gained a new distribution channel for its games, and launched a new genre of video games, without direct competition.<ref name=Murphy>{{cite web |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/wisdom-tree-lazy-uninspired-corporate-strategy-at-its-finest|title=Gamasutra: Rosstin Murphy's Blog - Wisdom Tree: Lazy, Uninspired Corporate Strategy at Its Finest|last=Murphy|first=Rosstin|date=June 6, 2013|work=[[Gamasutra]]|access-date=April 8, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Mixon | first = Bernie | title = Religious Figures Do Battle in Video Game World| work = Daily News (Los Angeles, CA) | date = February 26, 1995 | access-date = September 2, 2018 | url = https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24994220.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180902052306/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-24994220.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = September 2, 2018 }}</ref> Kozik later commented, "No one knew it was going to take off, but it took off like crazy."<ref name=EGM100/>

Nintendo never threatened any legal action against Wisdom Tree, and probably feared a [[public relations]] backlash from parents and religious groups.<ref name=WTabout/><ref>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Steven L.| author-link=Steven L. Kent|title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon and Beyond- The Story That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World|url=https://archive.org/details/ultimatehistoryv00kent|url-access=limited|orig-year=2001|edition=First|publisher=Prima Publishing|location=Roseville, California|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/ultimatehistoryv00kent/page/n618 400]|year=2001|quote=Wisdom Tree presented Nintendo with a prickly situation. The general public did not seem to pay close attention to the court battle with Atari Games, and industry analysts were impressed with Nintendo's legal acumen; but going after a tiny company that published innocuous religious games was another story.}}</ref>

Color Dreams also published games with the Bunch Games label. In 1996, its StarDot Technologies division started selling digital security cameras.<ref name=EGM100/>

==Games==
Wisdom Tree's games have a [[Christianity|Christian]] theme, and were often sold in Christian bookstores. Most games adapt [[Bible]] stories to appeal to children of the [[video game]] era. Many of its games are [[Mod (computer gaming)|partial conversion]] themed re-releases of Color Dreams games.<ref name=EGM100/> A Wisdom Tree product catalog shows ''[[Joshua & the Battle of Jericho]]'' as a side-scrolling game using the ''[[Bible Adventures]]'' engine. The actual released game has the engine of ''[[Crystal Mines]]'' and ''[[Exodus (video game)|Exodus]]''.<ref name="Murphy"/>

The company's first release as Wisdom Tree is ''Bible Adventures'', a three-in-one [[multicart]] with many gameplay elements from the American ''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'', applied to three different Bible stories: [[Noah]] collecting animals for the [[Noah's Ark|Ark]], saving Baby [[Moses]] from the [[Pharaoh]]'s men, and re-enacting the story of [[David]] and [[Goliath]]. The company sold 350,000 copies, encouraging this path.

Other Wisdom Tree games include ''Exodus'' (a conversion of Color Dreams's ''Crystal Mines'' game, with the story of the [[Israel]]ites' 40-year desert trek), ''[[King of Kings: The Early Years|King of Kings]]'' (similar to ''Bible Adventures'', but featuring three events in the early life of Jesus Christ) and ''Bible Buffet'' (a "video board game" with Bible quizzes). ''[[Spiritual Warfare (video game)|Spiritual Warfare]]'' is an action-adventure game similar in style to ''[[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'', with the requisite religious theme where the player, as a foot soldier in the Lord's army, is tasked with saving the souls of the heathen populace, using fruit of the spirit. The company released ports of some of these games to the [[Sega Genesis]] and [[Game Boy]], and Bible-reading programs (both [[King James Bible|King James]] and [[NIV]] versions) for Game Boy. ''[[Menace Beach#Sunday Funday|Sunday Funday]]'' is a 1995 conversion of the Color Dreams game ''[[Menace Beach]]'',<ref name="Halter"/> and is the last commercial NES release in the [[United States]].<ref name="WTabout"/>

Wisdom Tree made the only unlicensed commercially released game for the North American [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super NES]], ''[[Super 3D Noah's Ark]]''. This conversion of the ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'' engine features the player as Noah, quelling upset animals on the Ark by flinging sleep-inducing fruit at them.<ref name="Matulef">{{cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-14-unlicensed-snes-game-super-3d-noahs-ark-to-be-reprinted|title=Unlicensed SNES game Super 3D Noah's Ark to be reprinted|last=Matulef|first=Jeffrey|date=January 14, 2014|work=[[Eurogamer]]|access-date=February 28, 2015}}</ref> As the only North American Super NES cartridge to not use the standard Nintendo-manufactured shell, its shape resembles the Super NES [[Game Genie]] or ''[[Sonic & Knuckles]]'' on the Genesis, with a pass-through cartridge port at the top; the game requires a Nintendo-licensed cartridge plugged into this pass-through, bypassing the Super NES's lockout protection.<ref name=EGM100/> A PC port was released on [[Steam (service)|Steam]] in 2015, with retouched features such as support for widescreen resolutions and achievements.<ref name="SuperNoahSteam">{{cite web|url=http://store.steampowered.com/app/371180/|title=Super 3-D Noah's Ark on Steam|access-date=June 26, 2015}}</ref>

''King of Kings'' was listed as the honorable mention in Gamespy.com's "Seven Christmas Games That Make You Hate Christmas", due to its unentertaining gameplay and the farcical feel of dodging "acid-spitting camels".<ref name="gamespy">{{cite web|url=http://xbox360.gamespy.com/articles/105/1055620p2.html|title=Seven Christmas Games That Make You Hate Christmas - Page 2|work=[[GameSpy]]|access-date=February 28, 2015}}</ref>

Color Dreams pamphlets tout a lineup of Genesis games, all of them ports of [[Amiga]] games, but were all canceled.<ref name=EGM100/> Other unfinished Color Dreams games include a PC game called ''Hellraiser''. Another ''Wolfenstein 3D'' engine game, it was canceled upon the release of ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' because Color Dreams decided it could not compete. ''Maggots'' for NES has the player character trapped inside a human corpse and must escape while avoiding the maggots which infest it.<ref name=EGM100/>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Wisdom Tree games
|-
! scope="col" | Title !! Year !! Platforms !! Developer !! Publisher
|-
| ''[[Bible Adventures]]'' || 1991 || NES, Genesis || Wisdom Tree || Wisdom Tree
|-
| ''[[Exodus (video game)|Exodus]]'' || 1991 || NES, Game Boy, Genesis, MS-DOS || Wisdom Tree || Wisdom Tree
|-
| ''[[King of Kings: The Early Years]]'' || 1991 || NES || Wisdom Tree || Wisdom Tree
|-
| ''[[Joshua & the Battle of Jericho]]'' || 1992 || NES, Game Boy, Genesis, MS-DOS || Wisdom Tree || Wisdom Tree
|-
| ''[[Spiritual Warfare (video game)|Spiritual Warfare]]'' || 1992 || NES, Game Boy, Genesis, MS-DOS || Wisdom Tree || Wisdom Tree
|-
| ''Bible Buffet'' || 1993 || NES || Wisdom Tree || Wisdom Tree
|-
| ''King James Bible'' || 1993 || Game Boy || Wisdom Tree || Wisdom Tree
|-
| ''[[Super 3D Noah's Ark]]'' || 1994 || Super NES, MS-DOS || Wisdom Tree || Wisdom Tree
|-
| ''[[Menace Beach#Sunday Funday|Sunday Funday]]'' || 1995 || NES || Wisdom Tree || Wisdom Tree
|-
| ''NIV Bible & the 20 Lost Levels of Joshua'' || 1996 || Game Boy || Wisdom Tree || Wisdom Tree
|-
| ''Heaven Bound'' || 2003 || PC || Wisdom Tree || Emerald Studios
|-
| ''Jesus in Space'' || 2007 || PC || Sunday Software || Wisdom Tree
|}

==Ongoing activities==
Wisdom Tree mainly licenses its games. The company released an all-in-one "TV controller" system featuring seven of its NES games in a single, self-contained unit. Its website also has games by other developers. ''Heaven Bound'' is one example of a more modern 3D game for the PC. These games are produced on [[3D GameStudio|3D Game Studio]] (such as ''Joseph'' and ''Galilee Flyer'' by Sunday Software), using the default models that come with the program.

In 2010, all Wisdom Tree NES games were on the official Wisdom Tree website via a [[Java (software platform)|Java]]-based NES [[Video game console emulator|emulator]].

In 2013, retro game publisher [[Piko Interactive]] licensed cartridge reprints of Wisdom Tree games, starting with ''Super 3D Noah's Ark''.

In 2014, retro gaming website Stone Age Gamer began selling licensed T-shirts based on numerous Wisdom Tree properties including: ''Bible Buffet'', ''Sunday Funday'', ''Super 3D Noah's Ark'', and ''Exodus''.<ref name="McFerran">{{cite web|url=http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/08/these_official_wisdom_tree_t_shirts_are_so_bad_theyre_great/|title=These Official Wisdom Tree T-Shirts Are So Bad, They're Great|last=McFerran|first=Damien|date=August 4, 2014|work=Nintendo Life|access-date=February 28, 2015}}</ref>

In 2015, a Windows [[Video game remake|remake]] of ''Super 3D Noah's Ark'' was released on [[Steam (service)|Steam]] through the ''Steam Greenlight'' service.<ref name="SuperNoahSteam" />

==See also==
{{Portal bar|Companies|Video games|1980s|1990s}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://wisdomtreegames.com/}}{{deadlink|date=December 2023}}
* [http://www.sega-16.com/2006/08/interview-brenda-huff/ Interview with WT's owner Brenda Huff]

[[Category:Video game companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Video game companies established in 1988]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]
[[Category:Video game publishers]]
[[Category:Wisdom Tree games| ]]
[[Category:Christian video games]]